We got slimy with a little help from our friends... Slimy Sculpin Fish # 32

This whole finding new species of fish is getting to be a real challenge, so we asked for help and once again NH Fish and Game has come to the rescue.
NH Fish and Game biologists inventory the fish in NH waters by electrofishing and collecting the fish. Once the ID the fish and take some scale samples they release them back to the river. The good news, they collect locations of all the fish they catch.

Zoe Scouting for Sculpins

We asked for the locations of the Slimy Sculpin and were able to quickly find our fish.

Sammy trying to figure out why we're in the water

We found our fish in a tiny brook on Artists Falls Road in North Conway. It was exactly where it was supposed to be! Clay brought his kids there the day before to check it out.

The Hot Spot (dozens of sculpin in one place)

 Slimy sculpin are a surprisingly common fish in NH they are rarely encountered by fishermen, probably because they are usually smaller than three inches long and live under rocks.

We found a couple of websites with great information on micro-fishing and  non traditional fishing and we asked NH Fish and Game for advice. The plan was to walk the river, roll over some rocks and see if anything swims out. Once they do follow them to their new hiding space and drop a worm on a #20 hook into the hole and see what happens.

It worked, but getting the fish to bite to some effort, but we bounced the worm on their heads until they were annoyed and fish on! Anyone have a good sculpin recipe?